Ad Man Will Act Upon Every Twitter Command for Five Days, Like an Internet-Controlled Marionette

June 15, 2010

Starting on June 21, David Perez will do anything asked of him on Twitter @davidondemand while wearing a webcam on his glasses so that the entire Internet-universe can view his antics. While Perez (not that one) will be a pawn of Twitter users for five days, the experiment started with him acting as a pawn of his job.

The idea for “David on Demand,” as the weeklong experiment is called, came out of a brainstorming session at the Chicago, Illinois-based advertising company, Leo Burnett, where Perez works. After hearing a pitch for the idea, a boss told Perez that he would get a ticket to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France only if he went along with the experiment, Perez said.

He was more than happy to oblige. Perez worked his way into and then up within the firm. He started as a barista down the street from the company, made his way in as a receptionist, and now works as a recruiter.

Sounds like a ploy to draw attention to ad firm Leo Burnett. Well, it’s a bit creepy, kind of stupid, and altogether frivolous. But any publicity is good publicity, or so they say — whoever they are. Regardless, I’ll be watching. (The man does have 1,326 followers so far.)

During this experiment, Perez has one condition — he’ll only perform requests that are legal. He has also worked out some practical matters: He’ll angle the glasses away from him when he sleeps or uses the bathroom. No one needs to know that much of Perez, anyway. On Davidondemand.com, where the webcam video will stream, Perez posted a video of him explaining the experiment. “I’m your b—- [blocked out on site], I’m your slave. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do,” he says. “This whole thing launches June 21. Please, be gentle.”

If all goes well with this strange voyeuristic experiment, maybe we’ll nominate Perez to be MTV’s first-ever Twitter Jockey.